Arabella Churchill (royal mistress)
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Arabella Churchill (23 February 1648 – 30 May 1730) was the mistress of King James II, and the mother of four of his children (surnamed FitzJames Stuart, that is "son of James Stuart"). Arabella was the child of Sir Winston Churchill (an ancestor of the Prime Minister of the same name) and Elizabeth Drake.
An older sister of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, she began her relationship with James, then Duke of York, around 1665, while he was still married to Anne Hyde. Arabella became the duchess's lady-in-waiting in that year, and gave birth to two children during Anne's lifetime. Their affair continued after James's marriage to Mary of Modena in 1673, and produced two more children. Some time after 1674, she married Charles Godfrey and had three more children.
[edit] Children with James II of England
- Henrietta FitzJames, (1667 – 3 April 1730)
- James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, (1670 – 1734)
- Henry FitzJames, 1st Duke of Albemarle, (1673 – 1702)
- Arabella FitzJames, (1674 – 7 November 1704), became a nun.
[edit] Children with Charles Godfrey
- Elizabeth Godfrey, married Hungerford Dunch.
- Charlotte Godfrey, b. bef. 1685, married Hugh Boscawen, 1st Viscount Falmouth.
- Francis Godfrey.
